Whatever She Wants
by ChelzToddBrooke
Summary: Sequel to "Skipping the Dogs", Mac and Stella share their news! FLUFFY!


**A/N: Sorry it's been so long, and sorry this is really no point to this story!**

* * *

Stella stuck her arm out from under the warm covers, groping for her cell phone on the nightstand. Without even opening her eyes, she dialed one of the numbers on her speed dial. Mac's phone buzzed on the opposite nightstand.

"Taylor," he answered in a groggy voice.

"Hey Mac, I can't make it to work today," was the response he got.

"Stel?" Mac was confused.

"Yeah, I'm exhausted, I would be asleep at my desk," she explained, still on the phone."Ok, we'll try to manage without you," Mac responded, hitting the end button. He laughed to himself as he rolled over and took his wife into his arms.

"Too tried to go to work?" he whispered.

"Yeah," Stella mumbled.

"Are you ok?" Mac's voice was full of concern.

"I'm just tired, if you want me at work, I can be there," she sighed.

"No, no, Stel, I just wanted to make sure you're ok," Mac sputtered.

"I'm ok Mac, I did too much yesterday. I need a break," Stella expressed.

"Do you want me to stay home with you?" he offered.

"No, I'm just going to sleep most of the day. You would be very bored," Stella said with a tired laugh.

"Ok, well next time you don't feel up to working, you don't have to call me, you can just roll over and tell me," Mac grinned, softly kissing her shoulder. "In fact you don't even have to roll over," he added. Stella made some noise of understanding and burrowed deeper into his arms. They lay contently for a few moments longer. Mac checked the clock. "Unfortunately, it's time for me to get ready for work," he sighed climbing out of bed.

"Where's Stel?" Flack wondered as he entered Mac's office, looking for Stella to run leads.

"She's staying home today," Mac smirked, knowing Flack knew their secret.

"Not feeling well?" Flack half assumed.

"She says she's just tried," Mac clarified with a hint of worry in his tone.

"The same thing happened to Jess, she'll never admit it though. Pregnancy took it out of her. She slept at nearly ever available opportunity," Flack mentioned.

"I'm going home for lunch," Mac decided.

"Oh, she'll be so mad at you for checking up on her like that," Angell interjected, sounding very much like a teenage girl.

"I have lunch with Stella every day, why should today be any different?" Mac shrugged.  
"Smooth," Angell commented with a smile.

"How did you know what I was talking about?" Mac wondered since Angell was absent for the beginning of the conversation.

"It's not hard to tell when Stella is not here, there is a "stay away from Mac" vibe floating around the lab," Angell teased. Mac scowled at her.

"I'm not that bad," he huffed.

"You're right you're not, but you keep to yourself more when she's not around. Correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't you been in your office all morning, making your team come to you?" she pointed out. Mac gave her an affirmative look, she was right. She must be spending too much time with Stella.

"Well, these leads aren't going to chase themselves, have fun at lunch," Flack announced, leaving the room. Angell followed shortly after.

Mac did go home for lunch, but not without taking Angell's words under advisement. She was right, Stella would probably be upset they he was checking up on her. He couldn't help it though, he just had to.

When Mac got to his house it was as dark and quiet as he left it hours earlier. He quietly slipped up the stairs and into the bedroom. As he expected, Stella was sound asleep. The current arrangement of her limbs made it appear that she simply fell into bed, letting her body land where it may. He let out a light laugh and contemplated covering her back up. She didn't seem uncomfortable or bothered by the lack of covers, so he let her be, reducing any risk of disturbing her. He left and went to fix himself some lunch, which was after all the reason he came home. At least that's what he told Lindsey when he ran into her on the way out the door. He made a sandwich and settled in front of the TV as he ate. Before he returned to work, Mac made another sandwich for Stella and set it in the fridge. He carefully set a note for her on the nightstand and returned to lab.

"How was lunch with Stella?" Flack asked with a grin as he set a file on Mac's desk.

"She was asleep the whole time, didn't even know I was home," Mac shrugged.

"That's not fair, how can you get your good husband points if she didn't know you were there?" Flack smiled.

"I left a note and made her a sandwich incase she wakes up hungry," Mac fired back.  
"Ah, smart move," Flack complimented.

After catching more crap from Flack and Angell for the rest of the afternoon, Mac was finally headed home again, slightly regretting he let the young detectives in on he and Stella's secret. He rolled his eyes and laughed lightly as he remembered the afternoon. Mac was only half surprised to find the house still dark. He assumed Stella had woken up and gone back to sleep. The sandwich still sitting in he fridge disproved that theory. If she woke up, she didn't go downstairs. When he entered the bedroom he found her under the covers, hugging her pillow to her chest. He smile and quietly changed out of his work clothes. When he realized Stella's sandwich was basically the only think in the fridge, he figured a trip to the store wouldn't be a bad idea. Mac left yet another note for Stella before leaving. He chose to take his personal truck instead of his department issued Avalanche. When he was off work, he liked to be as separate from it as possible; of course he was pretty much always on call so the cell phone was constantly attached to the hip, but he did what he could. Mac carefully chose what items to purchase at the store. He had to keep in mind the things Stella couldn't have and what was currently making her sick. He stared longingly down the coffee aisle, wishing he could buy a package of the brown beans. When he found out Stella was pregnant he swore off coffee so the transition was easier for her. Not that she was a huge coffee drinker, but she did have a cup every morning, and that was apparently against the rules. Stella was adjusting well, enjoying hot tea which she was rather fond of to begin with. Mac however was suffering, tea wasn't strong enough and it didn't get him through paperwork the way a cup of coffee did, but a promise was a promise. Stella kept telling him by the time the baby was born he wouldn't need coffee anymore. Mac sighed to himself and moved onto the next aisle. Stella still wasn't awake when he returned. While worry nagged at the back of his mind he brushed it off, giving her the benefit of the doubt and made himself comfortable on the couch.

An hour or so later, Stella appeared at the bottom of the stairs, her figure silhouetted against the soft light above the front door.

"Hey sleepy head," Mac smiled. Stella took a step forward. Mac noted she was wearing the Chicago PD sweatshirt he had brought back for her on his last trip knowing her pregnancy would eventually cause the sweatshirts she currently owned to be too small.

"What time is it?" she asked as she fisted the sleeves of her sweatshirt and took a seat next to him.

"Six thirty," Mac answered as Stella placed her yoga pant clad legs in his lap. He leaned over and gave her a soft kiss.

"How long have you been home?" Stella wondered.

"I don't know, about an hour or so," he shrugged.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" she asked.

"I figured I'd let you sleep, you looked really comfortable," Mac provided. He reached over and sifted his fingers through the curls at the base of her skull, gently scratching her skin. Her eyes fell closed and she released a contented sigh. "How are you feeling?" he wondered.

"I feel fine, just tired enough to sleep through the night, but I am starving and I was wondering," she paused as she rifled through the pocket of her sweatshirt, producing the note he'd left her at lunch. "Where is this sandwich you mention?" she grinned.

"It's in the fridge, but I just went to the store, I can make you something better," Mac offered.

"Something like sautéed onions and peppers with grilled chicken and rice?" Stella inquired.

"If that's what you want," Mac nodded.

"Well, if you make that, I'll ignore the fact that you came to check up on me today," Stella bargained with a stern look. Mac smiled sheepishly as he stood from the couch. He leaned down and dropped a kiss below her ear.

"I couldn't help it," he whispered.

As Mac was finishing up making dinner, Stella's arms wrapped around his midsection.

"I'm not really mad about you coming by at lunch, I think it's sweet," she spoke into his shoulder blade. He felt it vibrate through his body. He brought his free hand up and set it on top of hers. The flash of their wedding bands together distracted him momentarily. He couldn't believe how lucky he was. He was happily married to Stella and they had a baby on the way. "What are you thinking about?" Stella wondered.

"You and the baby," he admitted.

"All good things I hope," she added.

"Of course," Mac assured her.

After dinner, the couple was back on the couch. Stella had warmed up and removed her sweatshirt. Mac was tucked into the back of the couch on his side while Stella lay on her back next to him. He had pushed her shirt up to run his fingers over their unborn child. She gently toyed with his hair as he did so. Neither said a word, both completely relaxed. Stella relished in the fact that her life turned out the way it did. She loved the fact that just being next to Mac, gently touching was enough. Before she got together with Mac she had experienced nothing like it. Most of the time she found herself forced to entertain the guy in some way. It wasn't that Mac didn't need entertainment from time to time, but he also gave back so much more.

"Stel, I want to tell everyone," Mac announced, breaking her from her thoughts. Stella looked at him for a long moment. "I mean, if that's ok with you," Mac quickly doubled back. A smile graced her features.

"You're a constant surprise," she mentioned, running her fingers along his cheek. He furrowed his brow in confusion. "I remember when you were severely private," Stella added.

"Don't get me wrong, I like to keep things between us, but I don't know, I guess I just want people to know we're having a baby," Mac rambled.

"You're excited," Stella grinned.

"You know I am," Mac responded.

"Well then, I suppose we can tell people," Stella laughed. "But I want to take the lead," she added.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," Mac replied softly, leaning down and capturing her lips in a sensual kiss.

The next morning everyone was milling around the lab with no new cases to work on. Stella carefully eyed her co-workers, pulling together a plan in her mind. She slid out of her lab coat and placed it on a hook in her office. The coat had served as sort of a shield in the past three months. Now that she had hit the end of her first trimester and got the ok from Mac, she no longer had to hide. She pulled her limbs into a deep stretch, her eighteen plus hours of sleep the day before had done her good. Angell knocked softly on the door before entering her office.

"Hey girl," Stella smiled.

"How are you feeling?" Angell asked.

"Well rested," Stella laughed.

"Mac was worried about you yesterday," Angell mentioned.

"I know and he really had no need to be," Stella replied.

"But you know he can't help it, I think it freaks any husband out the first time his wife sleeps for a day and a half straight." Angell said on a laugh.

"I guess you're right, but I was so tired," Stella replied. Angell laughed. "We're telling everyone today," Stella added, setting a hand on her abdomen.

"Well, you keep walking around like that, you won't have to tell anyone," Angell pointed out. Stella looked down at her hand, she blushed furiously. "It's a hard habit to break," Angell noted.

"well, I'm going to try and get my plan into action," Stella mentioned.

"Good luck," Angell smiled. Stella nodded and left for Mac's office.

"How can I help you?" Mac grinned upon his wife's entrance. His eyes roamed over her body. He wasn't used to seeing her in form fitting clothes at work anymore. He was glad they had made a reoccurrence. They did however make it hard to ignore her baby bump.

"Could you do me a favor and send a text to the team about an urgent meeting in the break room," Stella asked with an innocent look.

"And what is this urgent meeting about?" Mac wondered curiously.

"Oh, a little of you and a little of me," Stella smirked.

"I guess I could help you out," Mac decided.

Don't tell them I know anything about it," Stella insisted.

"Of course," Mac laughed and began typing a text. Stella smiled and left his office. As soon as her phone buzzed, Stella made herself comfortable on the break room couch. Soon the rest of the team filed in.

"What's this about?" Hawkes wondered, making eye contact with Stella. She just shrugged.

"I didn't send the text, Mac did." She claimed. Lindsey rolled her eyes.

"He is your husband," she pointed out. Stella was saved from answering by Mac's entrance. Without a word he took a seat next to Stella.

"What's that about Mac, you send this text about some urgent meeting and then you come in and just take a seat?" Danny said in disbelief.

"That's because this isn't my meeting," Mac smirked.

"But Stella just said you sent the text!" Adam objected.

"I lied, ok?" Stella laughed. "Mac did send the text but I wanted you all together," she explained as she stood from the couch. Mac caught her hand and moved to stand next to her. "Mac isn't completly innocent though," she added. He looked at her and smiled. By this time, Lindsay had the situation put together in her mind and was just waiting from confirmation. Truth be told, she had been suspicious for the last few weeks. A sudden nervous nervousness overcame Stella. Mac must have sensed something because he wrapped a comforting arm around her. She met his eyes. Nonverbal communication flew between. Mac nodded and turned back towards the team.

"Stel and I are having a baby," Mac disclosed.

"I knew it!" Lindsay gasped.

"Congrats man," Hawkes offered Mac a handshake, remembering a conversation they shared the day Mac and Stella announced their relationship and engagement. The loving look in Mac's eyes was just as strong now as it was then. Hawkes smiled and pulled Stella into a hug. Adam and Danny did much of the same. Lindsay hugged them both and really wanted to get some girl talk in with Stella, but she couldn't ignore the look dancing between the two. She discreetly left the room. As soon as they were alone, Mac turned towards his wife. She still looked a bit nervous.

" Are you alright?" he asked softly.

"Yeah, I guess I just chickened out," she sighed.

"That's ok, but you are glad we told them, right?" Mac checked. It wasn't like they could take it back, but he would try his hardest to make it better if she was uncomfortable. Stella smiled brightly.

"Of course," she answered, giving him a quick kiss.

Towards the end of shift, Lindsay caught Stella in her office.

"You knew?" Stella grinned, relaxing back into her chair.

"Once you've been pregnant, it's not hard to notice another pregnant woman," Lindsey laughed.  
"Jess and Don both knew," Stella admitted.

"Oh really?" Lindsey replied.

"We couldn't come up with another explanation for his reluctance to go to Chicago last month," Stella explained.

"What about Chicago?" Mac asked as he entered the office with Danny on his heels.

"I was telling Lindsey how Jess and Don knew," Stella answered.

"That guy doesn't tell me anything!" Danny huffed.

"Danny, it wasn't his to tell. You're as whiney as Jake," Lindsey commented. Danny slumped his shoulders and moved to lean against the window.

"Speak of the devil," Danny mumbled as Flack walked into the room.

"What did I do?" Flack asked. He had changed out of his work clothes and into jeans and a thermal shirt.

"Ignore him, what are you doing in our neck of the woods?" Lindsey  
asked.

"I needed to drop a few things off, then I saw the get together in here and figured I'd drop in while I waited for Jess. Maeli has a soccer game tonight." Flack explained.

"How's the team doing, coach?" Adam asked upon his entrance.

"About as good as you could expect from kindergarten girls," Flack laughed.

"I can't believe she's in kindergarten, I remember when she was just a few weeks old," Stella remarked.

"Tell me about it, I can't believe how fast she's growing up," Flack agreed. "But at least we'll have a new lab baby soon," he added with a smile. Stella blushed.

"Are you excited, Mac?" Lindsay wondered as she noticed the huge smile on Mac's face.  
"Yes," he smirked. Stella rolled her eyes.

"He's more than excited. He's got all the books," she smiled, sliding her hand down his arm until their fingers intertwined. It was Mac's turn to blush.

"Who's reading books?" Angell asked as she walked in the room.

"Mac is," Adam provided.

"Aw, cute," Jess commented.

"You ready?" Don asked.

"Yeah, we have to get Maeli and get her fed before her game," Jess answered.

"Are we going to eat too?" Don wondered.

"Of course, I would never leave you hungry, my eating machine," Jess laughed. Don scowled at her.

"Maeli likes to eat just as much as I do," he argued.

"She gets it from you," Jess fired back, dragging him out of the room.

"I better get going too; I'm taking Mel to dinner tonight," Adam added.

"For anything special?" Stella wondered.

"Not really, I just figured she'd enjoy it," Adam replied, scratching his beard somewhat nervously.

"That's sweet." Lindsay commented, glaring at Danny.

"Hey, they don't have kids, they can be spontaneous. Every time we want to do something like that our babysitters are busy," Danny argued. Adam stood there for a moment longer, not sure of what to say. He decided to just shrug and leave.

"Well, speaking of that kid, we better go relieve the sitter," Lindsay announced, before leaving and taking Danny with her.

Once alone, Mac slid his arms around his wife.

"What about you, what do you want to do tonight?" he asked, nuzzling her neck.

"I want to eat," she decided. Mac laughed against her skin.

"Ok, what do you want to eat?" he wondered. Nowadays Mac always let her pick what they ate and he would adjust accordingly.

"Hash browns," Stella stated.

"Hash browns?" Mac checked.

"Good, you can hear," Stella laughed.

"Well, we don't have hash browns at home, we'll have to go to the store," Mac replied as he helped her into her jacket.

"Or we could go out," Stella suggested.

"We could," Mac agreed.

"I want to change first," she added. Mac nodded and led her out of her office.

When they got to the house, Stella went to change and Mac sorted the mail. When he finished, he decided to change as well. As he entered the room, Stella released a huge yawn.

"Tired, hon?" he asked.

"Yeah," she breathed. Mac checked his watch. It was still early, just before five.

"If you want, we can eat later. You can lay down for a little bit," he offered.

"But I want to spend some time with you; we've been pretty busy lately." Stella half whined.

"What if I lay with you?" Mac suggested.

"Ok, but not in your suit, you ruin enough of them at work, I'm not going to let you ruin one at home," Stella instructed.

"Yes ma'am," he joked as he undid his tie.

A couple hours later, Stella woke up to find Mac watching the news.

"I'm hungry," she mumbled.

"Ok, do you still want hash browns?" Mac asked.

"Yes!" she answered enthusiastically, sitting up straight.

"Ok, ok, how about Waffle House?" he supplied.

"Sounds good to me," Stella said.

Mac held the door open as Stella walked into the Waffle House. The slid into opposite benches of a booth. A large woman greeted them with a crooked smile. She took their order and went on her way. Stella eyed Mac curiously.

"What?" Mac questioned with half a smile.

"Do you want a boy or a girl?" she asked. Mac's smile grew.

"I want a healthy baby," Mac answered simply.

"Mac," Stella groaned.

"I'm sorry, I don't have a better answer than that," he shrugged.

"I think you want a girl," she stated. Mac gave her a look that said "you could be right,"

"What do you want?" Mac turned the question on her.

"A boy," Stella admitted.

"Really?" Mac was halfway surprised. With as girly as Stella was, he figured she'd want a little girl to follow in her fashionista footsteps.

"Yeah, and I hope he looks like you," she smiled. Mac nodded. "I don't know, I just like the idea of our oldest being a boy," Stella added, picking at the corner of her napkin.

"Our oldest?" Mac said on a light laugh.

"I want a couple babies," Stella admitted somewhat nervously. Mac intertwined their fingers across the table.

"Whatever you want," Mac whispered, meeting her eyes. She smiled as her hash browns were set next to her. She released her husband's hand and picked up her fork. She eagerly dug into the potatoes. Mac watched her before he started on his own meal. He smiled at her satisfaction with the hash browns. He had no problem giving her what she wanted, whether it was a family or hash browns.


End file.
